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2005 Academy
Award Nominations Announced
By Rich Drees
January 25, 2005- The nominations for the 77th
annual Academy Awards were announced this morning and once again
they were a
mixed bag of expected names and a fair share of surprises over who
did or did not receive a nomination.
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Director Martin
Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of The Aviator. |
Leading the pack this year in total nominations was director Martin
Scorsese’s Howard Hughes bio-pic The Aviator with 11
nominations including Best Picture, Director, Actor for star
Leonardo DiCaprio, Supporting Actor for Alan Alda’s turn as a slimy
Senator and Supporting Actress for Cate Blanchett for her portrayal
of actress Katherine Hepburn.
Finding Neverland,
the story of how “Peter Pan” creator J. M. Barrie’s relationship
with a young widow and her sons inspired him to create his classic
character, and Clint Eastwood’s boxing drama Million Dollar Baby
earned seven nominations a piece. The sleeper indie hit Sideways
garnered five nominations including Best Adapted Screenplay, Picture
and Director.
Jamie Foxx earned the rare honor of capturing two acting
nominations- one for his lead role in Ray, based on the life
of soul singer Ray Charles and for his supporting role in the
thriller Collateral. Foxx is the first actor to do so since
Al Pacino’s 1992 double nomination for Scent Of A Woman and
his supporting work in Glengarry Glen Ross.
There is a slight feeling of déjà vu in the lead actress category as
Annette Benning (Being Julia) and Hillary Swank (Million
Dollar Baby) find themselves squaring off against each other
again. The last time the two actresses were nominated together was
in 2000 with Swank winning for Boys Don’t Cry. Also nominated
were
Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace), Imelda
Staunton (Vera Drake) and Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind).
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The
Incredibles |
Although animated films now have their own Best Picture category,
many were pleasantly surprised to see that director Brad Bird’s screenplay
for his delightful The Incredibles nominated, leading some
writers and critics to speculate what the film’s chances would be if
allowed to compete against its live action counterparts for overall
Best Picture. Also surprising in the Best Animated Film category is
the nomination of the lackluster Shark Tale over The Polar
Express.
However, there were some notable absences from the list that raised
eyebrows among critics and reporters. Actor Paul Giamatti was
considered by many to be a sure thing in the Best Actor category
after winning the New York Film Critic’s award for his work in
Sideways. Although nominated for a Director’s Guild award for
Finding Neverland, Marc Foster failed to receive a similar
nomination from the Academy.
Kinsey,
The Passion Of The Christ and Fahrenheit 9/11 all
failed to generate the nominations that many assumed they would.
Kinsey only netted a Best Supporting Actress nomination for
Laura Linney while The Passion Of The Christ only scored
nominations in the more technical categories of cinematography,
makeup and original score. Michael Moore’s controversial anti-
President Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 failed to glean
any nominations.
Despite receiving wide spread critical acclaim, China’s House Of
Flying Daggers directed by Yimou Zhang didn’t receive a
nomination for Best Foreign Film. It did receive a nomination for
cinematography for Xiaoding Zhao.
The 77th Annual Academy Awards will be presented on
Sunday February 27. The event will be telecast in the United States
on the ABC network starting at 8 pm eastern/ 5 pm pacific. Comedian
Chris Rock will host.
Click
here for a complete list of nominees.
Click here for news on the
two Honorary Academy Awards to be given out during the Awards
telecast. |
